CVS workers from seven stores in California are on strike

CVS pharmacy workers from seven stores in California went on strike on Friday, and they could be joined by about Rite Aid associates in the coming days.

The strike follows unfair labor charges filed against CVS in August. The charges include unlawful surveillance of workers, retaliation for union activity, and prohibiting employees from engaging in union activity.

The pharmacy workers are represented by United Food and Commercial Workers Local 770 in Southern California. The group authorized a strike in September.

The UFCW CVS bargaining committee, made up of members from eight UFCW Locals representing CVS workers across California, has been in negotiations with the Woonsocket, R.I.-based pharmacy retailer since May to reach a tentative contract deal.

CVS said stores will remain open during the strike.

“We’re disappointed that our UFCW member colleagues have gone on strike at a few select locations in the Los Angeles area,” CVS said in an emailed statement to Supermarket News. “We’ve had more than a dozen good faith negotiating sessions with the UFCW over the last several months, including six since the contract expired in June.”

Progress has been made finalizing a contract, CVS added, and tentative agreements have already been reached that will increase the rate of pay for store associates, with additional increases for those with 5+ and 10+ years of service.

In addition, CVS has offered to increase the amount of money CVS Health contributes toward the cost of health insurance for those enrolled in company-sponsored health insurance.

Meanwhile, Rite Aid workers are currently conducting strike-authorization votes, and if they join the CVS associates on the picket line, more pharmacy workers will be on strike in California.

The average CVS pharmacy worker makes less than $20 an hour and cannot afford to buy insurance from CVS, according to the union. Pharmacy technicians currently make $24.90 an hour after five years on the job.

Tension due to understaffing has been building with pharmacy workers across the country for months.

In August, a group of 10 pharmacists and technicians at a Walgreens store in Vancouver, Wash., filed a petition to vote on joining the Pharmacy Guild, a new union seeking to organize pharmacy workers around the country.

 It marked the first time Walgreens workers have petitioned the National Labor Relations Board to join the Guild, which is affiliated with IAM Healthcare, a union of healthcare professionals.

Late last year,Walgreens associates began a loosely organized walkout to protest heavy workloads. Some locations in Arizona, Washington, Massachusetts, and Oregon were forced to close due to the walkout, while other stores had to close early or operate only through the drive-thru.

The Ohio Board of Pharmacy implemented new rules effective May 1 to prevent understaffing in the state.

The rules require that pharmacies have adequate staffing levels and that they provide uninterrupted, 30-minute breaks for pharmacy employees working six hours or more.

Pharmacies are also prohibited from requiring employees to work more than 13 hours a day, and they must allow employees to have eight hours off between shifts.